The increase in the cost of fuel has made the use of sail assist propulsion of cargo ships economically feasable, provided that no increase in manpower is required to handle the sails, since an increase in manpower of only about 20% would eliminate any economic advantage gained by the propulsion assistance of the sails.
Therefore there has been a great need for a sail and rigging system for propulsion assist that requires no additional manpower to operate, and can be operated by remote control from the ship's bridge.